Colours

In my last post Seeing a rich grey world, I reviewed The Island of the Colour-Blind and Cycad Island by Dr Oliver Sacks. I was interested in how much we take for granted the presence of colour in lives, and what this means for people who are born without the ability to see any colour, living in societies where colour is so embedded in daily life.

A recent article about colour, How colour paints your world, explains just how important colour is to humans and how we build so much meaning around colour. It impacts on our perceptions, understanding of the world, moods and emotions, and even our well-being. This is despite the fact that what we see as ‘colour’ is actually a trick of light and how our brains and eyes interpret this information. Interestingly, the article also suggests that the emphasis we place on colour and how much it can impact us is also related to our own personal feelings of vulnerability and the degree to which we feel we have control over our lives.